Trivia

• When Cate was a little girl, she used to knock on neighbors’ houses and pretend she was looking for her dog in order to get invited in for snacks.

• During her years at the Methodist Ladies College (MLC) in Melbourne, she became the School Drama Captain.

•She became the “Tim-Tam” girl in a series of television ads promoting the product.

• In 1993 she became the first person to win the Sydney Theatre Critic’s Circle Theatre award for Best Newcomer (for Kafka Dances) and Best Lead Actress (for Oleanna) in the same year.

• When she was 18, Cate was on vacation in Egypt. A fellow guest at a cheap hotel in Cairo asked if she wanted to be an extra in a movie, and the next day she found herself in a crowd scene, cheering for an American boxer who was losing to an Egyptian. She dreaded the experience and walked off from the movie.

• Enjoys making lists and crossing items off as she accomplishes them.

• Has been in 9 movies where the title contains the name of the character she plays: Veronica Guerin (2003), Charlotte Gray (2001), Elizabeth (1998), Thank God He Met Lizzie (1997), Oscar and Lucinda (1997), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), Blue Jasmine (2013), Carol (2015) and Where’d you Go Bernadette (2018)

• Flew back home to Melbourne in September 2004 to launch the skincare range from SK-II at Australia’s leading department store Myer.

• Is of French descent.

• She participated in 7 films nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award, four of them in a row: Elizabeth (1998), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Aviator (2004), Babel (2006), and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008).

• Was officially in the BAFTA longlist in 2007 (Equivalently, the semi-finals) for Best Actress in a Leading Role, for her role in Notes on a Scandal (2006) (unlike the Oscars, where she was competing for Supporting Role), which consisted of 15 finalists for each category (except Animated Film). However, she was eliminated in the next round, which the five official nominees were selected.

• She and her The Shipping News (2001) and Notes on a Scandal (2006) co-star Judi Dench both received Oscar-nominations for playing Queen Elizabeth I in 1999. Dench won for her supporting role in Shakespeare in Love (1998) while Blanchett was nominated for Elizabeth (1998).

• Was ranked #45 on EW’s The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood in December 2007.

• Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the “100 Sexiest Stars” in film history (#31) in 2007.

• Chosen as one of People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful.” in 1999.

• In 2007, Forbes Magazine estimated her earnings for the year at $13 million.

• The group Oppenheimer has released a song called “Cate Blanchett.”

•When she was preparing for the role of Jude Quinn in “I’m not there”, she would listen to“Highway 61 Revisited” album before coming out of her trailer to film and watched Bob Dylan’s old interviews from his European tour of 1965, over and over. She was so enchanted by Dylan she “confessed that’s the only time she has seen her husband jealous”.

• She is one of the elite eleven thespians to have been nominated for both a Supporting and Lead Acting Academy Award in the same year for their achievements in two different movies. The other nine are Fay Bainter, Sigourney Weaver, Teresa Wright, Barry Fitzgerald (he has been nominated in both categories for the same role in the same movie), Jessica Lange, Al Pacino, Emma Thompson, Holly Hunter, Julianne Moore and Jamie Foxx.

• She, Linda Hunt and Felicity Huffman are the only performers to be nominated for an Oscar for playing a member of the opposite sex.

• While filming “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” she found out she was expecting her second child. Coincidentally, she was playing the role of a pregnant woman and while being fitted with a prosthetic belly, she fainted.

• She had to pass on the role of “Anna” in “Closer” (2004) because of her second pregnancy. She said she cried for 20 minutes and got over it.

• She is one of five actors (and the only female actor) to be nominated for an Oscar twice for playing the same role in two separate films. She played Queen Elizabeth I in Elizabeth (1998) and in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007). The others are Bing Crosby, Paul Newman, Peter O’Toole and Al Pacino.

• Was listed as a potential nominee for the 2008 Razzies (but did not make the final ballot) for her performance as Queen Elizabeth I in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), a performance that earned her another Oscar nomination. Had she earned a Razzie nod, she would have been one of the few actors to have a Razzie and Oscar nomination for the same performance.

• Actor Joel Edgerton revealed he accidentally hit Cate on the head and gave her a concussion on stage during a live performance of “Streetcar named Desire”.

• She’s not very fond of the color green because it reminds her to her school uniform.

• Cate confessed that she wore high heel disco boots while playing Galadriel in “The Hobbit” to gain height.

• Actress Emilia Clarke said that Cate’s performance as Queen Elizabeth served as inspiration for her role of Khaleesi in Game of Thrones.

• Singer P!nk wrote the song “From a closet in Norway” inspired by Cate’s Oscar speech in 2014.

• She became the face of Armani Fragrances in 2013. It was reported that she signed a 10 million dollar contract to become ambassador of the brand.

• Cate has confessed she watches YouTube videos to prepare for a role. She did it with Blue Jasmine and watched a lot of makeup tutorials to master the look of Hela in “Thor: Ragnarok”.

• Did not return to work until six months after giving birth to her son Ignatius in order to take to the stage for a Broadway revival of A Streetcar Named Desire, where she portrayed Blanche DuBois.

• Received the 2,367th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on December 5, 2008 at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

• She was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal in the 2001 Queen’s New Years Honours List for her services to acting and Australian society.

• Stars in Massive Attack’s “The Spoils” video clip.

•Cate has two pigs named Benson and Hedges. She had a dog named Egg.

• Cate was conferred the insignia of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture and Communication in 2012.

• Holds the record for largest “Best Actress” award sweep (42 wins) for her performance as Jasmine French in Blue Jasmine (2013), followed by Helen Mirren (40 wins) for her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006).

• Has received 3 honorary Doctor of Letters degrees from the University of New South Wales (2009), University of Sydney (2012) and the University of Macquarie (2014).

•Was named UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador in May 2016.

• Cate learnt Capoeira to prepare for the role of Hela in Thor: Ragnarok.

• For her role as Lou Miller in Ocean’s 8, she learned how to ride a motorcycle.

• In 2017, Cate was recognized for her service to the performing arts in the Queen’s birthday honors list.

• Is the 11th woman to lead the jury of Cannes. She joins Olivia de Havilland (1965), Sophia Loren (1966), Michele Morgan (1971), Ingrid Bergman(1973), Jeanne Moreau (1975 and 1995), Francoise Sagan (1979), Isabelle Adjani (1997), Liv Ullmann (2001), Isabelle Huppert (1999), and Jane Campion (2014).